Cleaning up Old Mess – Karpagambal gets a makeover

For nearly the entirety of my career (that would a decade and more), an assignment in Mylapore meant Adai-avial at Mylai Karpagambal Mess. A dingy two-and-a-quarter room with oily-sticky walls, chipped off tables with prominent sambar stains, crooked little steps that nearly took you into the dark kitchen to wash your hands…
In the dark kitchen, if you squinted properly, you could see men in dirty banians seemingly sweating into your food, which was tasty. The adai-avial with the mandatory dollop of butter on top was exceptional, but a quick idly-floating-in-sambar, medhu bonda or masala dosa was lip-smacking too. It is also the only place outside of The Hindu canteen where I will eat Kitchidi. At The Hindu, I eat it out of necessity, at Mylai Karpagambal Mess, I’d actually enjoy it.
You could also pick up the most heavenly badam halwa, a million podis that only-grandmothers-used-to-make and some odd Vathals and vadams.
Okay, thing is now, there is a brand new, squeaking clean MKM, with tiled flooring, freshly-painted walls, even an air con room, nice, clean polished tables. AND, mercifully, on fresh green banana leaves wetted lightly with water, the same wonderful adai avial! 🙂

🙂 My worsht experience was having carrot halwa there. Having sampled badam halwa, I ordered it. I should have known nostalgia over breakfast isn’t good for the digestion. It turned out to be grated carrot in some sugary-gheey-gooey concoction. No milk. Ugh. From then on, Karpagambal mess is strictly tiffin only.
🙂